Calgary 3, Detroit 2
“That was big — really big,” said Flames captain Jarome Iginla. “Gio’s back there making plays, quarterbacking the power play, then comes through with that shot on goal. There must be some nerves going on, definitely pressure at that point. He seems to contribute in big situations. It’s awesome.” That set the stage for a usual suspect — Iginla himself — to provide the winning strike in the Flames’ 3-2 decision. Wheeling past nemesis Nicklas Lidstrom after taking a swell feed from Wayne Primeau, Iginla snapped home a far-side shot on Dominik Hasek at 9:21. “I was due, wasn’t I?” Iginla, chuckling, said of burning Lidstrom.
From the moment Brad Stuart decked Tomas Holmstrom, 15 seconds after the anthems, anyone could tell it was going to be different. The Flames got to the first intermission still even, a far cry from the collapses in Motor City. They can only hope to keep up the intensity, and their defensemen, to stay in this series.With the Wings now leading the best-of-seven series 2-1, Game 4 is set for here Thursday night
Minnesota 4, Anaheim 1
Just when the doctor looked at the clock to mark the time, the Minnesota Wild jumped from the table to proclaim there’s still some life. Instead of packing for their summer homes this morning, Wild players will instead pack for Anaheim, where it will play Game 5 on Thursday after avoiding a Western Conference quarterfinals sweep to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night with a 4-1 rout. “When you have nothing to lose, it’s amazing what can happen,” captain Mark Parrish said. “When there’s not any concern about tomorrow, no worries about making mistakes, you can go out there and let it all hang out.”
In dire need of a Marian Gaborik-Brian Rolston-Pierre-Marc Bouchard-Parrish jump-start (only Gaborik had a goal in the first three games of the series), all four scored as the Wild matched its goal total for the previous three games in one night. And Pavol Demitra added two assists. “All the guys that we were waiting for, they all scored tonight,” Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said. Added Rolston, “We’ve got to score, we know that. Gabby’s got to score. I’ve got to score. Demo’s got to make plays. It’s nice to answer the bell, for sure.”
“We talked before the game how we needed to be intense,” Gaborik said. “We battled for ugly goals.”
Speaking of ugly, a physical game turned nasty in the end. After Parrish’s goal at 10:44, the Wild’s fourth and last, Brent Burns wiped the ice with Corey Perry during Burns’ second spirited bout of the playoffs.
The 22-year-old defenseman skated to the penalty box, looked to the roof and screamed, “Wooooooo!!!!”
With the Ducks getting embarrassed, things really heated up with less than two minutes left. When the Wild’s Adam Hall was preparing the fight Kent Huskins, Ducks left winger Shawn Thornton came flying in as a third man in and got a game misconduct. While this was going on, Anaheim agitator Brad May punched non-pugilist Kim Johnsson in the face to draw a match penalty for intent to injure, which could earn him a suspension. Johnsson, who crumpled to the ice, was in the trainer’s room after the game because of a head injury. He is under observation, and his status is unknown for Thursday.
“That was disgraceful,” Wild General Manager Doug Risebrough said, “but somehow I didn’t expect anything else from [May].”It’s going to make for a Wild night in Anaheim, pun intended.
A tight, scoreless game broke open midway through the third period, with Mattias Ohlund scoring for Vancouver and then Darryl Sydor answering soon after for Dallas, giving Vancouver a 2-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night and a 3-1 lead in this first-round series. After Trevor Linden put the Canucks back ahead by shoveling a rebound past Marty Turco with 5:31 left in regulation, Stars center Mike Ribeiro did his best to tie it again. Outskating two defenders, Ribeiro shot it right at Roberto Luongo. The puck bounced off the goalie and began sliding oh-so-slowly toward the net, moving sideways. Mitchell got there just as it reached the goal line and swatted it away. “I would have gone nuts if it was called a goal,” Mitchell said. His sanity remained. Officials agreed that Mitchell bailed out goalie Roberto Luongo with 2:33 left.
The Canucks head home knowing they may not have to make another long flight back to Texas. They can advance to the second round with a victory at home Thursday night. Dallas could be knocked out of the first round in five games for the third straight postseason. A big part of the Stars’ problem has been an inability to win at home. This was their sixth straight home playoff loss covering those three playoffs. If they don’t make it back, this may have been the last home game for coach Dave Tippett, and perhaps general manager Doug Armstrong, too.
The Stars are not shining bright, deep in the heart of Texas.
NY Rangers 7, Atlanta 0
Thrashers coach Bob Hartley, who went back to Lehtonen, the Game 1 loser, even though Hedberg played well in Game 2, called timeout after Malik’s goal. Lehtonen skated to the bench to regroup while Hedberg took a calm squirt of water. The break only brought temporary relief to Lehtonen and the Thrashers, on the verge of a sweep in their first playoff appearance. “Kari Lehtonen is a young goalie,” Hartley said. “He played hard, he played very well for us but he was by himself on the ice.”
“We understand this is far from over,” Rangers coach Tom Renney said. “As much as the record might suggest otherwise, it’s not over at all.” Only twice in NHL history has a team recovered from an 0-3 hole to advance. But the Thrashers showed little sign they have near what it takes to even get the series back home for a Game 5.
“Seven nothing is the same as losing in overtime,” Jagr said. “They will be ready next game. They have nothing to lose.”Except a little respect and a want to continue.
Ottawa 2, Pittsburgh 1
Been here, done that. Well, the Ottawa Senators hope not. The Senators would like to put the Pittsburgh Penguins away Thursday night at Scotiabank Place, and forget about past failures to finish teams. Now that they have the Penguins down, it’d be reckless to give them any hope. History would say they’d go on to win. The Senators are 4-0 when they’ve led a series 3-1. Anton Volchenkov, who nearly put his team in the hole with two minor penalties in a near-disastrous four-penalty second period for Ottawa, got the winner at 9:12 of the third, wiring a shot past Pens goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury from the high slot.
“It was a pretty good shot,” said Volchenkov. “Maybe a little lucky, but it feels good now.” Jason Spezza got Ottawa’s other goal. Jordan Staal scored for Pittsburgh. “Going home 3-1, it’s big,” said Spezza. “Obviously, we’ve got a couple of chances now to close out the series, but you don’t want to give this team any life. “They’re not going to lay down. They’ve got a lot of young guys who are trying to prove themselves over there, and some older guys that don’t have any chances left, so we expect them to have a good effort (in Game 5 Thursday night).”
“It’s tough,” said Penguins’ Sidney Crosby. “But I think we can be proud of the way we played. I think every guy in the room can look in the mirror and say we gave an honest effort. “That’s playoff hockey. You don’t always win, but I think we showed them we’re a team that’s tough to play against when we play like we want to. We didn’t get the two points, but I think if we go to Ottawa and play that way, we’ll have a chance and then we’ll see what happens.” They will have to play hard for the next three games, sixty minutes at a time, for this miracle ride to continue.
